Erin Hunter - Twilight

“Don’t worry,” she reassured her friend. “I’m here now.

Everything’s going to be fine.”

Squirrelflight leapt around at the sound of pawsteps behind her.

Crowfeather was emerging from the nursery.

“What’s happening in there?” she demanded.

The WindClan warrior stared at her as if he were looking straight through her. “Cinderpelt’s dead,” he meowed hoarsely.

Squirrelflight’s belly clenched. It couldn’t be true!

StarClan couldn’t be that cruel! She wanted to rush into the nursery to see for herself and comfort her sister, but she knew she had to stay where she was, guarding Sorreltail while her kits arrived.

In front of her, the hollow was emptying as if some of the badgers had been chased off, but the cats still weren’t winning the fight. There were too many unmoving heaps of fur sprawled on the ground, too much blood sinking into the paw-trodden earth.

A few fox-lengths away Squirrelflight could see Firestar and Brackenfur battling a long-legged male badger, darting forward in turn to confuse it. The badger swiped at them with massive paws; it couldn’t be long before one of the blows landed, hard enough to smash a cat’s skull or break a limb.

Her belly churned as she looked for Brambleclaw, but she couldn’t see him.

Crowfeather crouched beside her, his amber eyes burning as he gazed across the clearing.

“You wouldn’t think he’d be so upset about the death of another Clan’s medicine cat,” Ashfur muttered into Squirrelflight’s ear.

Squirrelflight didn’t say anything. She knew the gray-black warrior wasn’t just grieving for Cinderpelt.

Another badger lumbered out of the shadows, its jaws open to reveal two rows of pointed yellow teeth. It was bleeding heavily from one shoulder; Squirrelflight’s belly twisted as she imagined what might have happened to the warrior who had inflicted the wound. Ashfur leapt out to confront the creature before it got too close to the nursery, and Squirrelflight sprang up to follow. “Crowfeather, guard the entrance!” she yowled.

But before she could join Ashfur, she was distracted by a terrified wail. Glancing over her shoulder she saw Whitepaw flat on the ground by the trampled barrier, frozen with terror as a badger loomed over her. Squirrelflight swerved and pelted over to the apprentice’s side. She aimed outstretched claws, then pulled back without striking and stared up in disbelief.

“It’s okay, Whitepaw,” she choked out after a moment.

“This is Midnight.”

“Greetings, small warrior,” Midnight rasped.

Squirrelflight’s instinctive reaction had been relief, but then her suspicions flared up. Was Midnight here to fight on behalf of her kin? Squirrelflight took a pace backward until she was standing protectively over Whitepaw.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded.

“No need for fear,” Midnight reassured her. “My way is not fight. I bring help.”

She cocked her head to one side as if she were listening to something, then stepped aside to let a river of cats stream into the camp: strong, fresh warriors who fell on the badgers with yowls of fury. Tornear, Ashfoot, Whitetail, Onestar…

WindClan had come to help them!

The badger that had been fighting with Firestar and Brackenfur staggered back, turned tail, and ran. Firestar and Webfoot chased after it, hissing. Nightcloud and Onestar joined Ashfur to chase off the badger that had come too close to the nursery. Squirrelflight dashed forward to help, but she realized all the invaders were fleeing from the clearing. She skidded to a halt and watched them blunder through the broken branches that lay across the entrance to the hollow.

Relief stabbed Squirrelflight as she spotted Brambleclaw standing a little way off, his sides heaving with effort. She caught his eye and saw her own surprise reflected at the arrival of the Clan who had so recently rejected their friendship.

Ashfur’s badger lumbered past her with Nightcloud and Onestar hard on its paws. Onestar halted in front of Brambleclaw as the badger scrambled over the remains of the thorn barrier and vanished into the trees.

“You came,” Brambleclaw meowed.

“Of course we came.” Pride kindled in Onestar’s eyes.

“There are four Clans in the forest, but we can still help one another.”

Ashfur staggered to a stop beside Squirrelflight, and she turned to lick his wounds. He had lost fur from his shoulder and one side, and there was a deep gash on his foreleg. Even as she took care of him she tried to push aside the thought that she hadn’t been as frightened for him as she’d been for Brambleclaw.

“You’d better let Leafpool have a look at that,” she told him. She’d almost said “Cinderpelt.”

“Later,” he meowed. “It’s nothing serious. I couldn’t believe it when I saw Onestar and his warriors,” he added. “I thought we were all going to join StarClan.”

“Not yet,” Squirrelflight assured him. But the grim truth of what had happened swept over her, and she felt like wailing aloud. How many cats were dead besides Cinderpelt and Sootfur? How many more would die of their injuries?

The last of the badgers were disappearing with WindClan in pursuit. The exhausted ThunderClan warriors began to gather in the center of the camp around Midnight. Their eyes were stunned with horror, as if they couldn’t believe the battle was over.

Whitepaw scrambled to her paws and ran over to Cloudtail and Brightheart, who were slowly approaching from the direction of the elders’ den. Cloudtail’s white fur was caked with blood and dust, and he leaned heavily on Brightheart’s shoulder. Mousefur guided Longtail down from the Highledge, glancing around with narrowed eyes as if she wasn’t sure all their enemies had gone. Goldenflower followed a moment later; Brambleclaw, Thornclaw, and Sandstorm joined them.

Dustpelt limped up, fear in his eyes as he scanned the clearing. “Ferncloud?” he rasped. “Birchpaw?”

“They’re fine,” Squirrelflight reassured him. “They got out of the camp. They’re looking after Daisy and her kits.”

The brown tabby warrior visibly relaxed, collapsing on the ground to lick a wound on his shoulder.

Firestar staggered up and halted in front of Midnight, gazing up uncertainly as if he wondered why this badger wasn’t fleeing. As he tensed his muscles, ready to attack, Squirrelflight stepped forward quickly.

“Firestar, this is Midnight,” she meowed. “The badger we met at the sun-drown-place. Midnight, this is our Clan leader, Firestar.”

Relief flooded Firestar’s green eyes. “The badger who warned us to leave the forest?” He dipped his head. “You’re welcome here.”

“Good is it to be here,” Midnight told him. “And to see again friends from journey. Yet I wish time was happier.”

“So do we all.” Firestar let out an exhausted sigh. “You knew about this, then? You came to warn us?”

“No, she came to warn us .” Onestar padded up to Firestar’s side. “And to ask for our help.”

“Attack come before I expect,” Midnight explained. “No use come alone to ThunderClan. Best to find more fighting cats first.”

Firestar blinked gratefully. “We’re very glad you did.

Thank StarClan you found out what your kin were planning.”

“First in stars I see it,” the old badger told him. “Then I go to my kin, try to speak of peace, but they not listen, and little they tell me. They call me ‘cat-friend,’ and other insults more worse.”